Rare blue gemstone found only in the Dominican Republic. The pectolite mineral was discovered by Dominican Miguel Méndez and Norman Rilling in 1974, a Peace Corps volunteer from the US. They found the larimar stones scattered on a beach along the coast of Barahona. They named the stone “Lari-mar”. After Mendez’s daughter Larissa, and the Spanish word Mar, for sea. Although pectolite is found in many places around the world, ONLY the Dominican Republic has the blue color, a result of copper!